The present invention relates to a device for forming channels comprising H detectors spaced out regularly on a circular base, H peak limiters, each peak limiter being connected to the output of a detector, a chain constituted by an alternating sequence of adders and of delay devices, each delay device comprising several elementary delay cells of delay .tau. (.tau. = 1/F.sub.H) and being connected at their output to an input of an adder of the chain.
This device makes it possible to determine the direction of propagation of a plane wave by detection of this wave in several predetermined directions regularly spaced out in a plane.
Such a device, applicable in sonars or in radars, is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,792,479 and 3,691,514.
When the device is applied in sonars, the detectors are hydrophones and the wave whose direction is detected is an acoustic wave.
The known device comprises multiplexing means constituted by N multiplexers having H inputs enabling the applying of the signals sent out by the coders to the input of the chain and to lateral inputs of the adders.
Moreover, in the known system, the delays of the devices vary according to a cosine law, so that it is necessary to provide N - 1 different delay devices, this leading, when the assembly is installed on cards, to a great number of different cards.
Lastly, the precision of the known system depends on the number N, N being the number of multiplexers, for the number of signals from detectors used for forming each channel is N, so that the higher the precision is, the more elements there are in the chain.